Global warming and global climate change are the most significant environmental problems facing our world today. Global warming refers to the heating of the Earth’s surface while global climate change refers to the overall changing weather and climate patters that are an effect of global warming. What most people do not know is that global warming is a natural process. Without gases trapping a certain amount of heat our Earth would not be livable because the excessive presence of heat during the day and freezing   temperatures at night would not provide for a stable, livable environment. This temperature stabilizing process is made possible by what is called the greenhouse effect.       The Greenhouse Effect The greenhouse effect is the title scientists have given for the natural heat trapping process on our Earth. The greenhouse gases- carbon, methane, water vapor, the ozone and nitrogen, also known as trace gases, absorb the heat from the Earth and create a thermal blanket that keeps the Earth at a fairly constant temperature. The way this works is the sun’s rays hit the Earth and reflects off of certain land surfaces such as ice caps and glaciers. Instead of returning to space, these gases trap a certain amount of heat which maintains the temperature on Earth. When the gases trap the heat it causes the gas particles to vibrate. After a certain amount of time however the gas particles release the heat which is most likely absorbed by another molecule. However since the industrial revolution an influx of these gases has resulted in too much heat being trapped in this thermal blanket, causing what scientists have referred to as an enhanced greenhouse effect.

The Problem "The impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately upon developing countries and the poor persons within all countries, thereby exacerbating inequities in health status and access to adequate food, clean water and other resources." Ross Gelbspan The Earth’s temperature has increased about 1.4 degrees since the industrial revolution. This affects the entire ecosystem as scientists   have predicted that changing weather patterns will cause a diminished fresh water supply, excessive biodiversity loss, changed ocean circulatory patterns and acidic content, decreased agricultural production limiting food supplies, increased medical and health problems, and overall higher mortality rates.     Global warming and the enhanced greenhouse effect are a direct effect of burning fossil fuels, deforestation, livestock production from intensive agricultural production, the technological revolution, factory smokestacks, automobile exhaust and human induced land use changes. All of these activities release massive amounts of trace gases that trap the heat in our atmosphere and therefore are changing the surface of the Earth. Already noticeable changes include the dwindling polar ice caps which have served to reflect the heat from the sun, the slaying of the Amazon rainforest, which has released massive amounts of carbon that otherwise would have been stored, the current rate of biodiversity loss, the warming ocean temperatures, and the changing precipitation patterns. If globally our land is already significantly degraded, our water supplies are scare, our biodiversity is diminishing and our forests are disappearing, what kind of world will we be left with if this continues and escalates? What kind of quality of life are we heading towards and forcing our future generations to have to live with? These are questions we must ask ourselves and answer before it is too late. We have reached a point in our world where the air we breathe each day is not crisp and clean. It is actually dangerous to our health and has sparked a rising asthma rate in both the young and elderly populations. The air is polluted with chemicals and gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides from automobile exhaust, burning fossil fuels, intensive agricultural production, fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides. Carbon monoxide has been termed by the EPA as one of the most toxic gases that negatively affects everyone who breathes it in. Nitrous oxides are greenhouse gases that are 310 times more dangerous than carbon emissions. Therefore not only is the Earth getting warmer from the greenhouse gases, but also we are creating an unlivable atmosphere for ourselves. Reducing Your Global Footprint "The problems we have today will not be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them."- Albert Einstein The Earth is everyone’s home- the plants, animals and humans. We all share One home, One future, and One life. Many industries view technology as the answer to solving global climate change. Wind power, solar power and hybrid cars are examples of the move to alternative energy sources. Solar power use panels that trap the heat from the sun and use the sun’s natural energy to power homes and businesses. However the current problem with these energy sources is that they remain inaccessible for a vast majority of the population who cannot afford them. However, technology alone is not the answer to reducing our global footprint, because creating that technology often comes at cost. We must redefine our lifestyles, through simple gestures such as recycling, in order to effectively reduce our impact on the environment. Other activities that you can do include: 1. Educating yourself and others about the problem 2. Eat less meat 3. Recycling 4. Waste reduction 5. Use eco-friendly products that are not toxic to the environment 6. Walking or riding a bicycle instead of driving 7. Taking shorter showers 8. Investing in solar energy 9. Drive a hybrid car 10. Changing your light bulbs from incandescent to fluorescent 11. Changing your air filters often 12. Do not buy one time use materials 13. Writing your government to encourage them to participate in global organizations and treaties that support global climate change.

Deforestation is a major environmental problem that is a direct result of overgrazing from livestock, and land degradation from overuse of the land. When the land loses its nutrients it becomes sterile and non productive. Therefore more land must be cleared and more trees must be cut down from our forests to make room for livestock grazing, agricultural production, crop lands and soybean production to create feed.      What most people do not realize is how deforestation contributes to our most potent problem- global warming. Trees not only produce oxygen but also store carbon. Therefore when massive amounts of trees are cleared more carbon is released into the air and as it has no where to go it stays and heats the Earth, thereby contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect. As the Amazon is one of the most densely forested areas the burning and destruction of this area serves as a major contributor of carbon emissions.   Especially as surface areas such as deserts are more prone to retain the heat from the sun, while forests are more prone to retain the carbon which lessens the heat intake.     As the Earth’s temperature rises it is causing changes in the weather patterns which alter precipitation patterns. Typically rainforests and other forest areas are prone to rainfall. However, with the changing weather patterns, which are producing either floods in some areas or droughts in others, the lack of rainfall are causing dry spells that result in forest fires. These fires not only contribute to air pollution from the toxic gases they are emitting but also to the loss of our forests and their ecosystems. As deforestation includes the loss of thousands of species, we are daily changing the ecosystems and in turn the face of our planet. Although these changes might not be evident in our daily lives, as everything in our world is interconnected it is having vast affects on the nature of the Earth.

Ecosystem biodiversity is essential to plant pollination, soil production, waste decomposition and predator control. However, with the rising temperatures and human induced changes of species’ habitats, about 17,000 to 100,000 plant and animals species are eliminated each year. Thousands of land and water species are being pushed from their homes and cannot survive and adapt in the polluted environments we are creating. By 2050 15 to 35% of the 1,103 animal species currently on the risk of   extinction list will be destroyed. Scientists have even estimated that the continued trend of our activities could result in well over a million species lost by 2050.   In our forests, the biodiversity loss in the Amazon provides some one of the most devastating evidence of how species have to cope with human induced destruction of their homes. This uniquely biodiverse area is being slain daily in order to keep up with the growing population’s demands worldwide. As the forest is home to a vast number of species, we are losing about 1100 species yearly in the Amazon alone. Birds particularly are being affected as their tree homes are gone.     There are currently about 3,000 marine species that are at risk for extinction due to overfishing, pollution from sewage run off, dumping, over fertilization of crop lands, and rising temperatures. Global fishing is 250% over what the ocean can sustainably produce. Areas in the northeastern part of the United States have actually fished some species to their collapse. This affects not only the food chain but the amount of fish available to the human population which is the direct factor behind the overexploitation. Additionally, solid marine trash is killing over 1 million seabirds and millions of marine mammals a year. This pollution is causing immense problems as thousands of species are becoming contaminated with toxic chemicals such as DDT that stay in each organism’s system. Scientists have now found microscopic pieces of plastic inside plankton- which are the core of the marine ecosystem. As the ocean’s essential plankton and marine animals are at the root of numerous food chains, their extinction would be detrimental to our entire ecosystem.

Currently global livestock is the fastest growing agricultural sector, and will continue to grow as meat consumption is projected to more than double by 2050. In its entirety, from growing crops to feed animals to the final packaged meat products, livestock production accounts for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is larger than global transportation pollution. It is also the main contributor to the current land and water degradation, and therefore also influences global climate change. As quoted   by Henning Steinfeld, the Chief of FAO’s ( Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) Livestock Information and Policy branch, and author of the report, “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”   More importantly however they are the main contributors of the most harmful greenhouse gases, generating 65% of human related nitrous oxide emissions (that has 300 times more potential to warm the Earth than carbon and stays in the atmosphere for 150 years), 37% of methane emissions (that has 23 times the potential to warm the Earth than carbon), and 64% of ammonia emissions which contributes to acid rain.

The majority of these emissions come from animal manure. 10 billion animals in the US alone are slaughtered yearly and 45 billion are slaughtered worldwide. The EPA names factory farming as the single largest contributor to our polluted waterways. Factory farming contributions are not curbed at all as they are not required to submit to screening or monitoring programs.   Additionally the livestock sector is negatively contributing to our other environmental problems through their excessive use and waste of finite resources. Overall from start to finish it takes about 2500 lbs of water to produce 1 lb of beef- a huge consumption that is turned into waste. The Worldwide Fund for Nature has reported that 306 of 825 terrestrial eco-regions are identified as under a current threat, and 15 out of 24 ecosystem services are already in decline due to agricultural induced deforestation.

One of the most potent problems in the world today is the lack of clean, fresh water. As the population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, our water supply will become an ever more precious and scarce resource as global climate change limits our resources as well. Of particular concern is the vast amount of water pollution induced by human activities from chemical spills, fertilizers, pesticides, sewage runoff, livestock production, insecticides, and solid garbage dumping which only limits our water supplies further.   Already studies have found that  “over 80% of U.S. streams and rivers are contaminated with a broad array of medical drugs, including hormones, antibiotics, antidepressants, and heart medications, as well as chemicals from personal care and household cleaning products. The first U.S.-wide study of pharmaceutical pollution of rivers and streams offers an unsettling picture of waterways contaminated with antibiotics, painkillers such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, steroids, synthetic hormones used in contraceptives   and hormone replacement therapy, antidepressants, and other commonly used drugs, as well as chemicals found in beauty aids, household cleaners, and foods"(Washington Post, 2002).  It seems incongruous that we do not have enough clean water so people can have basic necessities, and yet we contribute to this problem by contaminating our lakes, rivers, streams and oceans with chemicals and toxins that have severe affects on our health and marine ecosystems. There are currently 1.1 billion people in the world who lack access to clean water and another 2.4 billion people who lack basic sanitation. Over 5 million people die each year from diarrhoeal diseases. This inability to access this basic necessity as well as the health problems and untimely deaths from unsanitary conditions is particularly jarring as it does not allow for social progression.   Generally the individuals most affected by this crisis are women and children. It is almost always women and their daughters who spend countless hours, sometimes up to 8 hours a day, collecting water just to cover primary needs such as bathing and cooking. As these women carry the water on their heads, which can weigh up to 45 pounds, it causes immense back and neck problems throughout life. As most of these individuals do not have basic sanitation and are not educated in hygiene they are vulnerable to water borne diseases which is responsible for the estimated 5 million deaths a year. A recent report issued by the World Water Commission stated, “the increase in water use in the future due to rising population numbers will 'impose intolerable stresses on the environment, leading not only to a loss of biodiversity (species extinction), but also to a vicious circle in which the stresses on the ecosystem (will) no longer provide the services for plants and people." Additionally and of more concern are the already dwindling ice caps. The loss of this part of the ecosystem alone would produce drastic effects as more than 16% of the world’s population relies on these ice caps as their water sources.

Our oceans are essential to the survival of our planet as it serves to not only stabilize temperatures by absorbing carbon, but also it is home to a diverse ecosystem that is at the core of the survival of our world. However, for centuries the ocean has been viewed as a huge dumping ground for all kinds of waste. Most people think that the wastes will disseminate especially since the ocean is so vast. However the opposite is true. The waste accumulates and concentrates- polluting our oceans with toxic materials such   as plastic pellets that contain DDT, oil, detergents, carcinogens such as BPA which are consequently killing off numerous species such as turtles, seabirds, and millions of marine mammals.   The main pollutants harming the ocean are direct products of human activities. A common example is oil spills. However oil spills are only responsible for 12% while fertilizers, toxic chemicals, oil spills, carbon emissions, sewage run off, and solid garbage compose 80% of the pollutants. Our technological age has produced an influx of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients from activities such as intensive agricultural production, waste disposal, fossil fuel use and coastal development. Carbon emissions from transportation and other highly toxic gases such as nitrous oxide and ammonia cause acid rain which is extremely harmful. Other commonly discarded pollutants are fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, fungicides that are used on crops which are often now genetically modified. When it rains these chemicals are transported, especially ones near coastal areas, and end up polluting our oceans, lakes, rivers, streams and sub surface fresh water. These waste water streams are polluted with sewage containing feces, industrial products, household waste, livestock production for food, and chemicals from intensive agricultural production as well as industrial factories.   Due to the abundance of carbon dioxide in the air, the ocean is beginning to warm- which is altering the entire marine ecosystem.   As our climate is expected to rise another 4 degrees Fahrenheit in the next few decades if not curbed, scientists have found evidence that this could wipe out entire marine species that are already under severe stress from current habitat loss, pollution and over fishing.   Our current activities will only continue to impede our ocean’s ability to sustain our planet and maintain its marine biodiversity that our world depends upon. Therefore more direct action needs to be taken to sustain the survival of our water resources. We can no longer look to our water sources as trash cans like we have in the past.